Round Up of Swine Flu Situation Across the World

• Hong Kong The first case of swine flu in Asia was confirmed by the Hong Kong government today as the virus continued to spread around the globe. The government's chief executive, Donald Tsang, said a Mexican citizen, who flew into the territory on Thursday, had been isolated in hospital after developing a fever. Police officers wearing masks and gloves guarded the hotel where he had been staying. It will be quarantined for a week and all the guests are being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

• GermanyGermany's center for disease control confirmed the first case of human-to-human transmission of the H1N1 virus. A 42-year-old Bavarian nurse was infected after coming into contact with one of the three people who have swine flu in Germany. The health ministry said she had made a full recovery. Authorities in Landshut, north of Munich, said the nurse was infected while working with a 37-year-old man who had recently traveled to Mexico.

• Egypt The government's decision to order the slaughter of all pigs in response to the threat of swine flu was condemned by international health experts. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, described the cull of 300,000-400,000 pigs as "a real mistake". There has not been a single suspected case of the H1N1 virus in Egypt.

• New Zealand Catholic and Maori leaders issued advice as a fourth person in the country was confirmed as having swine flu. The Roman Catholic church told priests not to place communion wafers on worshipers' tongues or to allow them to share communion wine from a single chalice during mass because it could spread germs. Maori politician Rahui Katene urged a temporary halt to the hongi, a traditional greeting where two people press their noses and foreheads together and exchange breath, the New Zealand Herald reported.